Everyone keeps going on about the MEW rumour (Marco, Enemy, Web) and how only 2/3rds were released.

I'll believe it when I see it. But if it IS the Marco prints from ETV in Ethiopia then that would be a good find as they're considered to be one of only two stored field versions that were bicycled around the world. The other eight were inferior suppressed field copies.

Everyone keeps going on about the MEW rumour (Marco, Enemy, Web) and how only 2/3rds were released.

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The latest speculation I've seen on "Marco" is this--

Gatiss has said that there's a restaging of a scene from "Marco" in An Adventure in Space and Time. Because of that, they're holding "Marco" back so that AAiSaT is special.

I don't know. That seems like a bit of stretch to me. I don't see the BBC holding back something like "Marco" which is worth money just because of a one-off television film that they haven't even marketed.

Everyone keeps going on about the MEW rumour (Marco, Enemy, Web) and how only 2/3rds were released.

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The latest speculation I've seen on "Marco" is this--

Gatiss has said that there's a restaging of a scene from "Marco" in An Adventure in Space and Time. Because of that, they're holding "Marco" back so that AAiSaT is special.

I don't know. That seems like a bit of stretch to me. I don't see the BBC holding back something like "Marco" which is worth money just because of a one-off television film that they haven't even marketed.

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Well they did already release 2 stories (Enemy and Web), I can see the possibility they might not want to blow the whole wad at once, especially if there was a scene in AAiSaT as you describe.

Everyone keeps going on about the MEW rumour (Marco, Enemy, Web) and how only 2/3rds were released.

Click to expand...

The latest speculation I've seen on "Marco" is this--

Gatiss has said that there's a restaging of a scene from "Marco" in An Adventure in Space and Time. Because of that, they're holding "Marco" back so that AAiSaT is special.

I don't know. That seems like a bit of stretch to me. I don't see the BBC holding back something like "Marco" which is worth money just because of a one-off television film that they haven't even marketed.

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Well they did already release 2 stories (Enemy and Web), I can see the possibility they might not want to blow the whole wad at once, especially if there was a scene in AAiSaT as you describe.

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I want to believe this is true but I don't know why they released two stories and not three; unless Marco really did need more restoration and they decided not to put all their eggs in one basket.

That's an interesting point, but by all accounts Hartnell was a non personal-ist (IYSWIM): he'd rant on about blacks and women and gays, but he was fine with individual people who happened to be black or female or gay, particularly once they won his confidence (such as Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein).
Even the notorious tale of how he treated Max Adrian on The Myth Makers has its subtleties; what shocked Adrian was that Hartnell was being so unpleasant to him given that they'd worked together before and got on well. And the explanation for that seems to be that Hartnell was out of sorts in general and just kicking out at any excuse: Myth Makers was the first story to be produced by John Wiles, so Hartnell was missing Verity Lambert; and Wiles had immediately rubbed Hartnell up the wrong way by effectively sacking Maureen O'Brien (who Hartnell liked immensely), and by refusing to let Hartnell have a day off rehearsals for his aunt's funeral (Hartnell being too proud to admit that, because he was illegitimate and his mother had more or less abandoned him when she did marry, his aunt had raised him and was, in every meaningful way, his mother).

Gatiss has said that there's a restaging of a scene from "Marco" in An Adventure in Space and Time. Because of that, they're holding "Marco" back so that AAiSaT is special.

I don't know. That seems like a bit of stretch to me. I don't see the BBC holding back something like "Marco" which is worth money just because of a one-off television film that they haven't even marketed.

Click to expand...

Well they did already release 2 stories (Enemy and Web), I can see the possibility they might not want to blow the whole wad at once, especially if there was a scene in AAiSaT as you describe.

Click to expand...

I want to believe this is true but I don't know why they released two stories and not three; unless Marco really did need more restoration and they decided not to put all their eggs in one basket.

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TBH, there's much umming and ahing about the BBC Four rerun of An Unearthly Child "as it's never been seen before" so I kinda wonder if they're just intending to show a recovered Marco Polo in place of it or as well as it, which would make some sense of it's recovery being held back to be announced on November 23rd.

Paul Vanezis recently denied that the Restoration Team was working on Marco Polo, saying it had not been recovered. He also denied the persistent rumor about Web 3, saying it had not been found. "Recovered" and "found" were in fact the exact words he used in the respective instances; the difference between them might suggest a possible reason why Marco Polo, if known to exist, couldn't be announced yet.

But that's exactly the point-- nothing he said was flat-out untrue, just carefully worded to be enormously misleading. The obvious intention of this latest statement is to suggest that Marco Polo and Web 3 aren't known to exist, but for the former, his word choices may indicate the opposite.

Gatiss has said that there's a restaging of a scene from "Marco" in An Adventure in Space and Time. Because of that, they're holding "Marco" back so that AAiSaT is special.

I don't know. That seems like a bit of stretch to me. I don't see the BBC holding back something like "Marco" which is worth money just because of a one-off television film that they haven't even marketed.

Click to expand...

Well they did already release 2 stories (Enemy and Web), I can see the possibility they might not want to blow the whole wad at once, especially if there was a scene in AAiSaT as you describe.

Click to expand...

I want to believe this is true but I don't know why they released two stories and not three; unless Marco really did need more restoration and they decided not to put all their eggs in one basket.

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No telling, but why did they keep the find a secret all through the recovery and restoration process right up until they released it? They were virtually lying about it. The whole thing was odd.

That doesn't mean Marco Polo was found, but keeping it a secret wouldn't be unusual for the BBC!

But that's exactly the point-- nothing he said was flat-out untrue, just carefully worded to be enormously misleading. The obvious intention of this latest statement is to suggest that Marco Polo and Web 3 aren't known to exist, but for the former, his word choices may indicate the opposite.

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Perhaps not an outright lie but clearly a very careful attempt to mislead, which is effectively the same thing.

Well they did already release 2 stories (Enemy and Web), I can see the possibility they might not want to blow the whole wad at once, especially if there was a scene in AAiSaT as you describe.

Click to expand...

I want to believe this is true but I don't know why they released two stories and not three; unless Marco really did need more restoration and they decided not to put all their eggs in one basket.

Click to expand...

No telling, but why did they keep the find a secret all through the recovery and restoration process right up until they released it? They were virtually lying about it. The whole thing was odd.

That doesn't mean Marco Polo was found, but keeping it a secret wouldn't be unusual for the BBC!

Mr Awe

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Same reason as the lack of Trailer that people wanted to start seeing months out. They wanted it to be an Anniversary Gift. Once you start feeding the PR Hype, you have to keep feeding it, to keep up the momentum, you start too early, and you have to let more and more out in order to keep buzz going, and by the time the Anniversary rolls around, everything is known, it's old hat, and no longer special

I'm not taking a side on if Marco Polo is still waiting to be revealed, I'm just saying it's not unreasonable that they might want to hold something back, and they probably didn't want to reveal what they did reveal so soon, the luster is already worn off Enemy of The World and Web of Fear, if they had announced them a week or two before the Anniversary, it would've made it all the more special.

^ Essentially the BBC didn't announce them until they released them. I think it would've been fine to announce that they've been found in advance of the release and saying that they'll be released on iTunes before the anniversary. That would get people looking forward to them.

This is especially true in light of the rampant rumors and unrealistically high expectation that 90 had been found. If the luster has worn off (for me it hasn't), it's only because 2 stories are so much less than the rumors suggested!

I'm completely thrilled by the finds and the luster certainly hasn't worn off for me!